


It’s a New World

by truthwatcher



Series: Where the Flowers Bloom [4]
Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, SANDERSON Brandon - Works
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Pregnancy, everyone’s alive guys, idk how to tag, post-catacendre au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 13:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15144230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truthwatcher/pseuds/truthwatcher
Summary: Vin started awake this morning the same way she had for the past few mornings — nauseous, and barely able to drink the vial of pewter and burn it in time to stop the roiling feeling in her gut.This has got to stop, she thought with a grimace.//Or, Vin might have a problem. Sort of.





	It’s a New World

Vin started awake this morning the same way she had for the past few mornings — nauseous, and barely able to drink the vial of pewter and burn it in time to stop the roiling feeling in her gut. 

_This has got to stop,_ she thought with a grimace. 

Her head sank into her hands and she sighed, steadying her breathing as the nausea subsided. 

Beside her, Elend stirred. “Vin?”

“Go back to sleep, Elend,” she said tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. The sudden nausea, then more sudden burn of pewter had made her head spin, something that had only begun happening recently. 

Elend sat up, yawning and pushing hair out of his eyes. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” she said distractedly. He frowned, and she thought he might say more. She leaned over, kissing him softly before making to get out of bed. 

“You’re getting up already?” he asked. 

Vin nodded. “There’s... I need to do something.” She smiled at him then, a reassuring smile so he wouldn’t worry. “You go back to sleep. You have that meeting with Ham in a few hours.”

Elend sighed, but settled back down into the bed. Vin leaned over again, kissing his forehead, before slipping out of the room on silent feet. 

 

Though the hour was early, Tindwyl was where Vin knew she would find her — sitting in the dining room of the manor that made up Elend’s new palace, a warm cup of tea in front of her and studying a book. 

“Your Majesty,” Tindwyl said, not looking up from her studies. She took a sip of her tea. “You are up early today.”

“Yes,” Vin said, taking the seat opposite Tindwyl, then changing her mind and sitting besides the Terris woman. “I have a problem. Well, I think I have a problem. I need information.”

Tindwyl closed her book, marking the page with a napkin and then turning to Vin. “What is this problem?”

Vin took in a deep breath. “Tindwyl, how do you know if you’re pregnant?”

Tindwyl’s eyebrows raised. “Blunt as ever, dear.”

Vin gave her a flat look. “Well?”

“You would need to see a physician, not me, child,” said Tindwyl. 

“But surely there are signs I can judge from?” Vin asked, annoyed. “I feel nauseous in the mornings. I get headaches when I use my allomancy too suddenly. And— And I haven’t— well, my cycle hasn’t come this month, or last month. Surely, that means what I think it means.”

“It very well could,” Tindwyl said, looking thoughtful. “But you will need to see a physician to confirm it. We can go this afternoon, I think.”

 _This afternoon?_ Vin thought with sudden fear. She’d hoped Tindwyl might just be able to tell her. Going to a physician made it all seem more real. And if she was pregnant, she didn’t think she’d want any _strangers_ to know about it. 

“Don’t you have anything in your copperminds about this?” Vin asked, a note of desperation in her voice. 

Tindwyl eyed her. “What are you afraid of, child?”

Vin swallowed, shutting her eyes. What _was_ she afraid of?

“I’m afraid,” said Vin, “That if it’s true, I’ll ruin it somehow. Tindwyl, I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

“Nonsense,” said Tindwyl. “You and Emperor Elend have stabilised the continent after the Catacendre. The entire empire accepts your rule. The Assembly system is working smoothly. We have peace. What better time than now to start looking towards the new generation?”

Vin sighed. “First, I need to find out if I really am pregnant. And I don’t want to go to some physician I don’t know.”

Tindwyl’s lips pursed. “I can talk to Sazed,” she said. “We will discuss what we might do.”

“Thank you, Tindwyl,” Vin said, exhaling in relief. 

 

Vin sat on the bed that night, running a comb through her hair and waiting for Elend to finish bathing. He’d had a long day, with a lot of back-to-back meetings and correspondences with the kings ruling the empire under him. 

She considered what she was going to tell him as she set the comb aside. She was eight weeks along, and she hadn’t even suspected until a few days ago. She didn’t know how Elend would react. 

Not that she thought he’d react badly — she knew he wanted children, and they had talked about it. It was just that she had always thought of the prospect as something far off, even if they’d been married for close to five years now. 

But Tindwyl did have a point. The Empire was stable, the world was safe, and Elend was becoming more and more a figurehead than an emperor, progressively giving more power to the people. They had peace, and freedom. The timing was great... just unexpected. She wasn’t entirely sure when the baby had even been conceived, though she had a vague idea. But she’d still been taking contraceptive tonics, so it was a complete surprise to her to be pregnant. Still, Sazed had warned her that most contraceptive methods weren’t entirely foolproof. 

And then there was the worry about something happening to the baby. She’d need to be more careful with what she did and how much she pushed herself, but it wasn’t as if she patrolled that much anymore and the only fighting she did was sparring with Ham, Spook and Demoux — along with the occasional allomancy training with Elend. 

_One thing at a time,_ she told herself, taking in a few deep breaths. 

A short time later Elend came into the room, rubbing at his damp hair with a towel. He wore no shirt, and Vin took a moment to admire his appearance as he walked through to his desk. His body was toned and strong, a warrior’s body despite the peace. He was vigilant in his training, and it reflected in his physique. Vin very much approved. While she had never thought any less of him in the early years of their relationship, she certainly wasn’t complaining about how toned he now was. She also approved because of the practical side — by training daily it meant he would always be prepared for a fight. It made her feel that little bit safer about his own safety. 

“I thought you’d be asleep by now,” Elend said, discarding the towel and making his way to the bed, climbing in. 

Vin turned to him. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?” Elend asked, leaning back into the pillowed headboard. “What’s the matter?”

Vin took his hand, suddenly at a loss for words. Her throat was dry, her mind fuzzy. Talking had never been a strong suit of hers — Vin was a woman of action, not words. 

So she moved across the bed, settling on his lap and straddling him, her hands on his face. Her thumbs brushed across his cheekbones, then she moved her hands down past his beard and to his shoulders. 

“Vin?” he asked, a smile on his face. He was amused at her sudden display of affection. “What is it?”

“Do you remember,” she began, smoothing her hands down his chest. “When you had to take that trip to New Seran a couple of months ago?”

Elend nodded, his eyes fluttering shut as Vin’s hands began massaging his shoulders. 

“And,” she said. “Do you remember what we did when you came back?”

Elend’s mouth quirked in a smile, his eyes opening. “Quite vividly. As I recall, we engage in that activity rather frequently.”

Vin smiled too, amused. “Yes,” she said. “Well, it seems something happened that week.”

“And that is?”

Elend had gone to New Seran for two weeks a while back, and Vin had stayed behind helping Spook with a thieving problem. It wasn’t a long time to be apart, but she’d grown used to always having him around. In the days after Elend had returned, they’d made up for the lost time _very_ eagerly. Now that she thought about it, they hadn’t been all that careful with contraception. Maybe one of those times she’d forgotten the tonic, or taken it too late...?

Vin took his hands in hers, though she could see that he was already connecting the dots in his head. “Well,” she said, guiding his hands to and pressing them against her still-flat stomach. 

Elend looked from her to his hands, now resting on her stomach, then back up at her. His eyes were wide. “You’re...” he began, trailing off. 

Vin nodded, anxiety filling her as she looked at him, gauging for his reaction. There was a dazed look on face, as if he’d been whacked by something particularly heavy. What was going on in that head of his?

“Elend?” she asked, a little worried. “Are you upset?”

He looked astounded, his hands limp against her stomach. 

“Elend?” she asked again, now growing confused at his silence. “Elend—“

She broke off as Elend pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her back, his face buried in the place between her shoulder and neck. Vin put her arms around him uncertainly, and he took in a deep, shuddering breath. 

With a start, Vin realised he was crying. Her neck was wet and his breaths were shaky. 

“Elend,” she said for the third time, now alarmed. “What is it? Are you alright?”

He nodded, holding her tighter still, and Vin began stroking circles on his back with one hand, the other stroking his hair, trying to be comforting. 

After a few moments his breathing calmed, and slowly he pulled away from her. 

She watched him, more than a little concerned. 

“I’m sorry,” Elend said, wiping at his face with a hand. “It’s just— Oh, Vin. I’m so happy.”

The knot of tension in her chest disintegrated, and she felt foolish for the brief moments of anxiety. “You are?”

He smiled, nodding, still wiping at his face. “Yes, Vin. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world tonight.”

“Oh,” she said slowly. “Well. That’s good. The crying kind of threw me off.”

He laughed, a surprised sound. “I’m just... I don’t know. It took me a moment to process, and when it did... I’m so happy, Vin.”

Vin smiled, brushing a thumb along his jaw as she cupped his face. “So am I.”

Elend exhaled a slow breath, the tears all wiped from his face, eyes no longer glossy. “I’m a little terrified, too.”

“So am I,” Vin said again, more softly. “Do you think we could be good parents?”

Elend grew contemplative. “I’d like to think we could. Even if we didn’t exactly have the best role models.”

Vin’s eyebrows raised. “Elend, your father tried to have you assassinated. Then he abandoned you to be executed. Then he camped an army on your doorstep—“

“I get your point,” he interrupted, amusement on his face. “Maybe I was putting it a little lightly.”

“And my mother did kill my sister,” Vin said. She cocked her head. “Huh. It seems both our families have a penchant for murdering their children. Isn’t there a word for that? Infanticide? No, that’s just for little children...”

“Filicide,” Elend supplied. 

“Right,” Vin said, her hands returning to where they had been rubbing his shoulders. The joviality left her, however, as she thought more about what she’d tried so hard all day not to think about. “I’m worried, Elend.”

“I doubt we’ll try to kill our child, Vin.”

The words themselves made Vin wince. Her hands stilled, and she bit her lip. There were so many ways for a pregnancy to go wrong, for a birth to go wrong. There were so many things that could happen—

Elend wrapped his arms tighter around her. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive. What I meant is, Vin, we have to have faith in ourselves. We have to trust that we’ll be better than our parents.”

Vin nodded slowly. “You might be right, but that doesn’t make me any less afraid.”

“Then we’ll be afraid together, and we’ll figure it out together. We can do this, Vin,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. 

Vin kissed him back, arms wrapping around his shoulders. Here in Elend’s arms, she could believe that they could do this. That they could do anything. 

“Wow,” he said slowly, after she’d pulled away for breath. Their foreheads touched. “We’re going to have a baby. How— When did you find out?”

“I’d been suspecting for a few days,” she said. “And Sazed and Tindwyl confirmed it for me today. I’m eight weeks along.”

Elend’s face was radiant with happiness as he held her, kissed her. “A baby, Vin,” he repeated softly. There was wonder in his voice, a wonder she could relate to. 

“A baby,” she agreed, resting a hand on her lower abdomen. There was a life growing there, a tiny spark of life, a miracle. 

“We won’t be ruled by our pasts,” Elend promised. “It’s a new world, Vin. We’ll do this right.”

And she believed him.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea for a post-series everyone lives au has been scampering in my mind like a wild rampage of feral plot bunnies that haven’t rested until I actually started writing them. I hope, if you’re reading till here, you enjoyed. Kudos and comments are always appreciated! 
> 
> -tw


End file.
